novelraw Chapter 178 : Mission 11: Come Back to Busan Port (4)
Chapter 178 : Mission 11: Come Back to Busan Port (4)
Vrooooom…!
With a deafening roar from its engine, the boat sliced through the waves, charging toward a colossal whale hovering weightlessly just above the waters off Busan.
“Holy crap, it’s huge…!” Jae-hee shielded his eyes with a hand, marveling at the sight. “Are whales supposed to be that big?!”
“They’re big, but that one’s absurd.” Ghost defined it simply. “It’s a monster.”
“How are we supposed to catch that thing…?”
“What do you think we’re here for? To test these.”
Ghost gestured to the trio of monsters caged behind them.
“We’re deploying the Monster Unit for a field test. A whale that size should be a fitting opponent.”
“Oh man… Is this really gonna be okay…?”
The closer they got, the more immense the whale became. Hovering just above the water, it looked less like an animal and more like an island suspended in the air.
“It’s ginormous!”
“A blue whale can exceed thirty meters, but that thing… looks about double that. Pretty damn big.”
Ghost snorted. “Still, it’s not like we’re lacking in the size department.”
She flicked a finger forward.
“Crying-X, you’re up.”
“A-alrighty then. Let’s go, Cryx!”
Jae-hee opened the door to the first bathroom and carefully brought out Crying-X—in doll form.
Whale Hunter did a double-take from the helm. “Wait a minute, that thing was a monster?!”
“What else did you think it was?” Jae-hee tilted his head, completely unfazed.
Whale Hunter’s horror only grew. “And you’re seriously planning to throw that thing at the whale?”
“Hey, he’s probably more powerful than your average bomb. Ah, but how do we launch him?”
Ghost was already fiddling with the harpoon cannon and the giant fishing rod mounted on the bow.
“This should work.”
She hooked a fishing line to Crying-X’s shackles and connected the other end to the net hauler.
Meanwhile, Jae-hee removed the harpoon from the cannon, lifted Crying-X, and stuffed the doll snugly into the muzzle.
He looked up with a perfectly innocent expression.
“Will this work, Master? Think it’ll go whoosh?”
Ghost decided the kid was definitely a few screws loose, but she kept the thought to herself and simply nodded.
“Good. Hey, Whale Hunter. What’s the range on this thing?”
“You people are completely insane…”
Grumbling, Whale Hunter still explained, “It’s a custom cannon I reinforced myself. Gate Gear, pneumatic. With the original harpoon, I could nail a monster from a hundred meters out.”
“All right, get us in range.”
Ghost reached out and pushed the lion doll deeper into the cannon.
“Time to test our bomb.”
Jae-hee gave a tight-fisted cheer to Crying-X, whose head was now peeking out of the muzzle with a blank stare.
“Cryx, my man! You take that thing down, and I’ll give you way more than just sugar cubes!”
“Wah? Wah-wah!”
“Ah, you want a bigger bathroom?”
“Wah-ah.”
“Got it. I’ll talk to the commander for you. Now let’s do our best!”
…How are they even communicating?
Looking on in disbelief, Ghost leaned in and whispered coldly into Crying-X’s ear.
“Try to run, and I’ll detonate every last explosive strapped to your body, and the ones I planted inside.”
“W-waaghh!”
“Go prove you’re useful.”
Click.
The inhibitor was removed. Though still covered in restraints and bombs, its original abilities were now accessible.
“…!”
The button eyes on the lion doll, perpetually fixed in a crying expression, suddenly sparkled.
Vwooo…
As their boat approached, the Sky Whale merely stared down at them, unmoving.
Once they were in range, Whale Hunter shouted, “One hundred meters!”
“Fire now!”
“Dammit, what the hell am I even doing…!”
Whale Hunter grumbled one last time before slamming a large red button in the cockpit.
FWOOMP!
With a violent spray of Gate particles, the cannon fired, launching the small lion doll into the air.
“WA—”
Reaching the Sky Whale’s back in an instant, Crying-X let out a piercing shriek.
“—AAAAAHH!”
A dazzling halo of light erupted from the tiny doll. The next instant, it swelled to a size even greater than the Sky Whale itself.
“Whoa! It’s a kaiju battle!” Jae-hee bounced on the balls of his feet, watching the spectacle. “This is so awesome!”
“This isn’t a spectator sport,” Ghost said coolly. “Stay sharp and watch what’s happening.”
But Jae-hee couldn’t contain his excitement.
Before his very eyes, two monsters, each dozens of meters long, were about to collide in midair.
“…?!”
The Sky Whale, startled by the sudden appearance of a giant lion doll directly above it, tried to evade, but it was too late.
“Waaaaaah!”
Crying-X simply brought its colossal body crashing down on the Sky Whale.
CRASH!
The Sky Whale, pinned beneath the lion doll, sank helplessly below the surface with an enormous splash, sending massive waves across the sea.
On the rocking boat, Jae-hee threw his arms in the air, ecstatic.
“Pin it down! That’s it, Cryx!”
“I reckon he’s earned a few extra sugar cubes…”
It was a simple, brutish attack—a pure body slam—but no less effective for it. Even Ghost nodded in satisfaction.
For the first time, Jae-hee wasn’t the one being thrown into the fray but was instead throwing a subordinate… of sorts. The new sensation made his eyes sparkle.
“Wow, Master! The Monster Unit is amazing! Is this that ‘auto-farm’ thing people talk about? We just sit back and watch. What a cakewalk.”
“A cakewalk, huh?”
“Hmm. Assuming it keeps going this well…”
Just as Jae-hee was celebrating and Ghost was feeling reasonably pleased with the smooth progress, it happened.
Vwoooooo…!
“Huh?”
“Wait.”
A whale’s cry echoed from beneath the surface, and then—FWOOSH!
With a tremendous burst of foam, a massive whirlpool erupted from beneath the waves. A monstrous wave rose, tossing the boat about like a leaf.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa?! What is this?!”
“Hold on tight, kid!”
The whirlpool that had shot up from the depths began to swallow the surrounding water, twisting into a colossal waterspout.
At its center was the Sky Whale.
The massive creature floated majestically, as if surveying the world below. And on the outer edge of the vortex—
“Waaaaaa…”
—was Crying-X, caught in the current.
Its eyes spinning like pinwheels, Crying-X was whipped around the edge of the waterspout. It began to shrink, then was sucked high into the air before… it fell.
Plonk!
It hit the water with a pathetic splash.
“Cryx!” Jae-hee yelled.
He quickly activated the net hauler to retrieve Crying-X.
“Come back, Cryx… Aww, you’re all soaked.”
“Wah, waaahh…”
The shrunken, sopping-wet Crying-X was reeled in on the fishing line.
While Jae-hee carefully hung the lion doll on a nearby line like a piece of wet laundry, Ghost clicked her tongue, glaring at the whale in the sky.
“Stronger than I thought. A simple contest of mass won’t work…”
Ghost gestured toward the next monster locked in its bathroom.
“Next!”
The second contender: the Flying Tentacle God.
Its inhibitor was released, and the tentacled monster slithered out from behind the bars, its long, octopus-like legs writhing.
“Cult Leader…”
The Flying Tentacle God looked at Jae-hee with its pleading yellow eye.
Jae-hee nodded brightly.
“You got this, Tentacles! If you take down that whale, the Monster Unit becomes official! That means better quarters, better food! I’ll even bring you lots of those books you like!”
“…!” The Flying Tentacle God hesitated, glancing at Jae-hee. “Then… will you come to see me more often…?”
“Uh, yeah, maybe!”
“All right! For my Cult Leader!”
Burning with newfound motivation, the Flying Tentacle God squirmed into the harpoon cannon on its own, moving like an octopus seeking shelter.
“I’m ready! Send me!”
“All right! Goooo!”
FWOOMP!
The cannon fired, and the Flying Tentacle God soared through the air in a perfect arc.
“Wooaah! Come at me, you darn fish!”
The waterspout created by the Sky Whale blocked its path, but the Flying Tentacle God simply balled up its tentacles like a shield and pierced straight through.
“Haiyaaaa!”
It then deployed a mass of tentacles from a magic circle in the air.
It seized the Sky Whale from all sides, trying to drag it down.
WHAP!
But the next moment, the Sky Whale swung its broad fin and swatted the monster away.
The Flying Tentacle God’s main body was sent flying in a single blow.
“Geghhhhh!”
With a pitiful squeal, the Flying Tentacle God fell limply from the sky.
Plop!
“Tentacleeees!”
With a cry of anguish, Jae-hee frantically worked the net hauler.
The Flying Tentacle God was dragged back onto the boat, dangling from the fishing line.
Ghost drew her sword, shouting urgently, “Forget that one! Test the last monster. Now!”
At the same time, the Sky Whale launched its counterattack.
Vwoooooo!
A waterspout shot from the sea toward their boat like a missile. Ghost stood at the bow, slicing through the vortexes with her sword.
She can cut a waterspout with a sword?
Though dumbfounded, Jae-hee scrambled to the third bathroom and unlocked it.
“…”
And so, the final member of the Monster Unit emerged.
A Vampire Lord, covered in bombs and inhibitors, with a special gag fitted over her small jaw to prevent her from biting.
The girl with pink hair and a silver coronet—the Rose Princess—stepped out of the bathroom with a sullen expression.
“Um… Princess Rose?” Jae-hee fidgeted nervously before her. “That whale over there… could you maybe… take care of it for us?”
The Rose Princess glanced at Jae-hee with her golden eyes, then tilted her head and asked, “Gonn’ give me some?”
“Give you… what?”
“Blood.”
“…”
“Don’t need a wot. Just a wittle bit is fine. Pwease? I’m so hungwy…”
The Rose Princess looked down pitifully and rubbed her stomach.
“…”
Hunger. It was a weakness Jae-hee was all too familiar with.
As he hesitated, the Rose Princess lowered her voice to a whisper, making sure Ghost couldn’t hear.
“Give me just a wittle bit, and I’ll be a good girl. I pwomise. How ‘bout it? Pwease?”
Jae-hee squeezed his eyes shut, then finally gave a small nod.
“All right. If you defeat that whale… I’ll give you one drop of my blood!”
“…!”
A bright, beaming smile spread across the Rose Princess’s face.
It was an innocent, almost cute smile, but for some reason, it seemed to reek of blood.
“Otay!”
With bombs still strapped all over her body, only a few of her inhibitors were released—her left hand and right foot.
Thwip!
Without the help of any other equipment, the Rose Princess kicked off the deck with just her freed right foot and shot into the air like a rocket.
As her long pink hair streamed behind her, out of Jae-hee’s line of sight, the vampire princess smiled viciously.
A drop of delicacy is better than an ocean of blandness. And one capable thrall is better than a thousand useless tools.
Her red tongue licked her lips.
One drop is all I need. I’ll make you my thrall, and from there, I’ll start over, step by step…
And then.
Vwooo…
“…?”
The Rose Princess’s evil contract hit a snag right from the start.
The Sky Whale had wrapped itself in a massive vortex and was now charging straight toward her, a colossal body slam that looked like a giant tornado bearing down.
VWOOOOOO!
“…Ah.”
As she raised her freed left arm to block the vortex, the Rose Princess realized something.
Even at full power, this would be impossible to defend…
FWOOM!
“AHHHHH!”
Struck by the vortex, the Rose Princess spun through the air, skipped across the sea’s surface like a stone, and plunged into the water far in the distance.
Jae-hee cried out in anguish.
“Roseeeeeee!”
Crying-X, the Flying Tentacle God, and the Rose Princess.
The Black Parade’s Monster Unit—wiped out on its very first mission. Taken down one by one without achieving a thing.
Jae-hee looked over his team, muttering to himself in a hollow voice.
“Well, this is a familiar sight…”